Why Call of Duty Online's success could be problematic

MWEB GameZone writes: "Call of Duty Online, the free-to-play spin-off Call of Duty game that’s exclusive to the Chinese market has begun its open beta. If it takes off, it could be the biggest Call of Duty game ever and that could be a problem."

[SonZeRo]

As a way to break into a rather closed market it might be a good thing but if it makes it big there i wouldnt be surprised if you start to see more pay for this weapon models being introduced in future games, or maybe im pessimistic and all will be fine.

[HanCilliers]

I fully agree, microtransactions can be so bad for gaming, and having a big country like China dictate how Activision should run the business model doesn't bid well for the industry.

[CongoKyle]

China often disallow microtransactions so this is interesting.

[plut0nash]

Microtransactions seem to be a big source of income for these companies. Is there a real boost to profits if implemented? I mean, I never bought the Forza 5 car pass - but I assume many have since the leaderboards have so many DLC cars topping them.

[CongoKyle]

This could be a bit bigger, especially since it's bringing a well known FPS genre to China (One of the largest gaming populations in the world).

I don't really see how it's a bad thing. I can only hope the Chinese play this and get a taste of Call of Duty and perhaps pick up the bigger titles like Advanced Warfare. My only hope is that they don't get their hands on Call of Duty 4 and then realize (like the rest of us) just how bad the COD franchise has become.

[caseh]

"My only hope is that they don't get their hands on Call of Duty 4 and then realize (like the rest of us) just how bad the COD franchise has become."

If that does happen, I imagine the response for most people being something like this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[DesVader]

Going to be interesing to see if this drums up support in that region. For the Call of Duty Champs, the Singapore / Taiwan qualifier only got 2 teams entering. So maybe a "tailored" version is what is required.

[Sillicur]

Definately, wonder how that will effect esports in the region

[gantarat]

I think i see Human Torch ?

[HoldenZA]

China is a huge piece of a pie that Activision haven't been able to penetrate. This move by them makes sense and if it catches we may see some heavy eSport penetration in that market. Only time will tell

[Sillicur]

Indeed! And china has a great eSports scene, well in terms of dota 2 as far as i know. "Chinese dota best dota"

[neocores]

To me seeing gameplay of this CoD brgs me back to cod 4. i mean all the old maps from CoD 2 and up in one game. thats what we want. all in 1080p not only that they got all remastered zombie maps its insane. mircotrans to hurt but if it came here and people saw how good it plays it will be a huge game in the NA

[Sillicur]

I dont really think it will be a bad thing, even though I dont like Microtransactions.

Bringing such a big franchise to China is a massive step and could be one of the best business decisions this industry has seen for a long time.

[Maxor]

The Chinese are almost exclusively PC gamers where free to play is king. The business model which excell in that market doesn't appeal to the western gamers so all this fear is irrational.

[Sillicur]

It really still appeals to me as well as a "western" gamer. Love the F2P model if the microtransactions are reasonable.